Chapter Six
Emma Swan recognised Hades' trick immediately, knew who her True Love to be without a doubt. That their kiss would bring their family back to Storybrooke where they could live happily ever after.
Ripping tore through the empty loft and Henry threw the paper onto the pile of very similar sentences. He'd written perhaps a million variations since he'd reacquired the Author's Pen, though it lay beside his book as he composed each letter with a regular pen.
A mundane device that had no ability to change anything. No matter how many times he rewrote history with the hunk of plastic, his mother would remain dead.
Unlike so many other children in his position, he had the power to pick up a different pen and make it all reality. He could simply write 'Regina Mills appeared to hug her son' and then he would get what he had craved everyday.
The problem was what would follow.
It was the exact reason he'd snapped his only power despite his desire for magic. It was so hard to resist giving everyone what they wanted, to bring back his family's missing piece.
The knowledge that she was being tortured only incentivised him further to flout every promise he'd made to the Apprentice.
But then he remembered that Regina had asked not to be saved.
At first, he didn't get it, but then it hit him. She'd felt like this before and it had darkened her heart.
She didn't want that for anyone she loved, which now inexplicably included the woman who vowed to never give up on trying to save her.
With David and Emma at last both back at work, Snow still spent the majority of her time with Belle.
Henry wanted so badly for her to be right that there was a way to retrieve Regina's soul without causing yet more harm, but Henry just knew that there wasn't anything that could be done from their side.
The last time he'd felt this way was when Pan destroyed Storybrooke and he'd been right, there was nothing that he or Emma could have done to fix any of that.
Maybe if Snow knew how the Truest Believer felt about all of this, she would accept that she should be sleeping and eating as she had been pushing onto everyone else.
With no qualms about anyone reading the many scenarios in which Regina could come back, he picked up the Author's pen and shoved it into his pocket.
At least if he kept it close, the remote possibility was there, even if he invariably talked himself out of it each time he was struck with inspiration.
After a quick stop at his step-great grandfather's flower shop, he walked slowly to Gold's Pawn Store mulling over how he was going to say this.
He didn't want it to sound like acceptance that he was certain he would never reach, no matter how many times he saw Archie.
How could a son ever be expected to accept the memory of his mother's body dragging him down through the dust of her crushed heart?
How could he deal with the fact that fear had stopped the bravest woman he knew from being together?
Entering the backroom proved that he had to do something though.
The smell of antiquity was overtaken by stale coffee and the two sleep-deprived woman flipped silently through mounds of books, neither of them looking up until he cleared his throat and crinkled the cellophane on the flowers.
"Henry!" Snow greeted, her voice cracking from disuse, "What a pleasant surprise! We haven't gotten to that pile of books if you want to…"
"Actually," he cut her off and held up the flowers, "I was thinking maybe we could take these to mom and grandpa?"
Belle stiffened and Snow's forehead crinkled.
Henry was, of course, saddened by Rumplestiltskin's death but his sacrifice had felt unavoidable after everything. That didn't stop Belle's grief, however, though he was sure that the manner in which his soul was destroyed meant that the librarian was intellectually aware that he could never come back.
Assisting Snow was the excuse she needed to check this theory, which was apparently not boding well as she was so much more deflated than the princess.
"You can't give up!" Snow objected.
Anger flashed through Henry, but conjuring Archie's voice meant that he didn't snap back, at least he wasn't disregarding Regina's express request.
This bolstered his resolve and told him how to respond, "Mom went through this with Daniel. She doesn't want this for our family."
"But…you're the Truest Believer," Belle said feebly.
"I believe that we have to give mom what she asked for," Henry replied, "Magic has rules for a reason, this all started because we tried to ignore them."
Snow gripped her book like it was a lifeline before clawing her hands back with a sniff and then shakily approaching her grandson to take the flowers and smell them.
Her mouth turned up and Henry was hopeful that it was because he had chosen Regina's favourite shade of purple for the bouquet.
"Regina would be so proud," Snow said.
Henry looked down but replied, "I hope so," and then offered the other flowers to Belle.
They were as close to gold as he could get.
S
Regina Mills wasn't having the best of days and that was saying something with her track record.
Some councilman was under the misguided impression that the mayor and former queen was not deserving of basic, professional respect.
This would have all been fine if the sheriff had kept their lunch plans. She could rant at her for a while until the saviour made a joke that would break through the sour feeling lingering over her.
Unfortunately, she had to cancel owing to some delinquent Lost Boys and in her continued annoyance, she opted not to cook dinner but then Henry asked to join Hansel and Gretel upon their arrival to the diner.
This led to her sitting at the counter in an abundantly familiar position, her head resting on her open palm as she stared into her second glass of brown liquid.
Compared to what she had before the breaking of the curse, her life was objectively better.
Henry loved her, her enemies had become her family, but still she was alone in one area of her life.
Robin was back with his wife, living happily ever after in New York City with their son, that was as far as her thoughts about the thief went following his departure from Storybrooke.
He was almost certainly her soulmate at one point but her life was now unrecognisable to the young woman who had been saved by Tinkerbell.
She knew well who she wanted and it seemed like the perfect punishment for all she had done; the Evil Queen's feelings of True Love would be unreciprocated.
With everything that she had gained over recent years, how could she expect anything other than the woman she loved being with an insufferable pirate?
At the very least, she and Emma had reached a stable state of real friendship in their quest to co-parent. That would have been unattainable not too long ago, so perhaps she shouldn't be wallowing in her loneliness?
At least not publicly.
She had plenty of whiskey at home and Hansel and Gretel's father was gracious enough to give Henry a ride home despite his justified disdain for the Evil Queen.
Before she could figure out the logistics of picking up her car before work the next day, a flash of blonde banished all thoughts of leaving the diner.
"Hey," Emma greeted, leaning into the counter and Regina ached to ask her to sit down with her. To ask for the company that she'd been craving so acutely all day.
Unfortunately one drink was not enough to lower her inhibitions enough to admit so openly what she wanted.
It was enough for her to notice the inviting demeanour of the relaxed saviour so she thought that she'd felt the same about their cancelled plans as she did.
The pain in her chest upon reading the text message couldn't be one-sided, could it?
Thoughts of finding out once and for all were pushed away as she drew herself up and pulled the whiskey to her to shield her from the ridiculously hopeful lilt to her analysis of Emma Swan.
The woman was close and comfortable because they were good friends, not because she also longed to trail her fingers down her face to see if it was as soft as it appeared.
All evidence pointed to the saviour preferring a rougher, run-soaked surface anyway.
With years of one-sided longing behind her, Regina masked all feelings in a split second and replied, "Hello, Gina."
"You okay?" Emma asked, crossing her arms and the concern forced Regina to take a long swig to hide whatever expression was about to overcome her face.
There were limits to what could be interpreted as platonic and she was pretty sure she had pushed up against that line more than a few times.
Placing her glass back down, she replied, "Completely fine, dear."
Emma tilted her head, interrogating her appearance in a way that made Regina sure that she had to know about her love.
She didn't feel as though she was hiding it well.
"Sorry about earlier," Emma said, "Can I make it up to you?"
This piqued Regina's interest, was she about to be invited to have dinner with the sheriff? Did she not plan to spend her Henry-less night with her boyfriend?
This was dashed promptly, however, as Emma added, "I could get you a kale salad tomorrow?"
Smiling tightly, Regina replied, "That would be lovely."
"Swan!" came across the diner and Emma's smile felt so momentary that Regina thought thats he must have imagined it. Surely Emma wouldn't prefer to stay here with her rather than going to join her pirate? "Come on, love, I'm starving!"
Emma nodded and rushed out, "Gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow, Gina."
Regina raised a hand by way of saying goodbye but failed to turn around, knowing that she was liable to see an unwelcome kiss if she did. Instead, she fiddled with her glass as Emma and Killian sought out a booth for their date.
She couldn't go now, right? It would be too conspicuous to abandon her seat right after her interaction with her crush.
Before she could weigh up the pros and cons of ordering a top up, the seat beside her was occupied.
Henry must have been drawn over by her jealous sorrow or simply because he saw his parents talking.
He was the only person in town who understood that she probably felt like melting into a puddle right now and why exactly that was.
The problem was that the news of her romantic interests only invigorated his Operation Mongoose plans. Thankfully, he didn't suggest that she march over to admit that she was in love.
"Are you hungry, mom?" he asked.
Regina touched his arm gratefully and shook her head, "Stay with your friends, Henry. I'll see you later at home."
"Are you sure?" he asked.
Nodding, she reached into her purse to provide him with money for his dinner, "Very sure. Have fun."
Henry chewed at his lip but said nothing else as she slipped from the stool, preparing for a lonely night at home.
The memory was not one that Regina enjoyed recalling but she had been running out of Emma thoughts to bring to mind.
Over the weeks (or so she assumed) she'd alternated between thinking about Henry and Emma to get through the pain.
Physical pain was never the biggest threat to her, but Hades had a greater penchant for torture than any of her other enemies.
Revealing that if she had told Emma the truth at any point would have dramatically changed her life, hurt more than the cracking of her nose.
It allowed her to reanalyse every interaction that they'd ever had for signs that she'd grossly underestimated her ability to be loved.
Thanks to the waters of Dun Broch, however, she no longer had to look for mental evidence.
A moment ago, a tearful Emma Swan sat before her, proclaiming her love clearly.
Despite still missing her son with all she had, pulsing with hatred at Hades which was both layered with the insistent agony at her chained wrists, Regina smiled as her soul was returned to whatever form she now took in the Underworld, the saviour loved the Evil Queen.
It may have ended tragically as with much else in her life, but was now an undeniable fact.
Her head hit the obsidian rock behind her and this action stopped her revelling. SHe was no longer chained in the throne room.
Had Hades gotten bored so quickly during her fleeting excursion back to the world of the living?
It was certainly a good thing to no longer be in his direct eyeline but she couldn't exactly relax.
What if he'd forgotten her and she was now set to spend eternity chained to some rock underneath Underbrooke?
This torture would only be made worse by the exaggerated heaviness in her pocket.
Hades had failed to search her and so had no idea about the magical necklace inside her coat. It had been a failsafe should she ever find herself in another magical blocking cuff.
As prepared as she was, the chains took away any chance of reaching into her pocket to free herself.
She may not be able to leave the Underworld now but she could find a place in this strange recreation of her town.
Zelena was still here, unable to move on following her failed time travel plans. Perhaps connecting with her sister would be a good use of at least a few years of effort? Apparently death wasn't the end she thought it was.
She couldn't see herself moving on under the weight of all of her unfinished business, but she could help Zelena, right?
Perhaps continue Henry's project before Hades made his offer?
She grunted as she pulled at her chains, but they only dug into her wrists harder rather than helping with her feeble escape attempt.
WIth a sigh, she closed her eyes, figuring she could spare some time to imagine what True Love's Kiss would feel like with Emma Swan or maybe fooling herself into believing that she wasn't going to miss all remaining milestones in her son's life.
She could force herself back into the still foreign hero mindset once she got the rest that was probably no longer a biological imperative for her.
A creak prevented this and her eyes flew open, prepared to defend herself in spite of her limited arsenal.
Her back dug into the sharp obsidian and she hissed but squinted in an attempt to divine the figure approaching through the dusty twilight.
"Who's there?!" she demanded, instantly recalling every Underworld dweller who Hades could send to torture her in his stead.
She already knew the damage that a Fury could inflict but there was no shortage of other candidates to cause pain.
There was a crash on the rocky walkway and after a long pause, there came a reply, "Regina?"
Regina's eyes widened.
At first she thought that some demon was conjuring traumatic memories, but Cora Mills had never sounded so genuinely worried.
She hadn't been able to when she didn't have her heart.
"Mother?" she called back.
The dust gave way a second later and it was indeed Cora, though her attire confirmed that this wasn't a case of being pulled into the past to recall previous pain. She had never in her life seen her mother dining rags and she didn't think that it was something her mind would come up with.
Nor did she believe that this miller's version of Cora would abandon her cart of grain to rush over to her injured child to fall to her knees.
There didn't seem to be any restraint as she gasped and cradled her bloodied cheek and the touch formed a lump in Regina's throat.
How she so wished that she could have gotten this affection decades ago, it wasn't too late evidently.
"Why are you still here?" Cora breathed, "We need to find a way to…"
Cora lifted her own cuffed arm to work helplessly on the chains and Regina sighed, enjoying at least the fact that she wasn't alone right now, she replied, "There is no way, mother."
"Do not say that," Cora admonished but did leave the shackles alone, "I was under the impression that you were more hopeful now?"
"Hope is difficult to come by when you are dead."
"No…" Cora said, wiping at some blood that must have dried without Regina noticing, "How?"
"Hades crushed my heart, a rather ironic way for the Evil Queen to die," Regina laughed bitterly.
"But your friends ventured down here for the captain, I assume they took him with them? They could do the same again…"
"It is not a trade that any hero would willingly make, at least not twice," Regina replied.
She had, of course, considered that they could make that swap again. The pirate could take her place and she would get her happy ending.
With Emma's strong arms around her, she was sure that she could ignore the guilt for some time. Now that she was essentially one of the Charmings, however, she was certain that wouldn't last long.
Causing death was not the way to get her happy ending, she'd long since learned that.
Anger overtook Cora anyway and she asked, "Trade? Do you mean to tell me that they exchanged my daughter for…"
"No, mother," Regina cut her off even if she did want to hear a colourful description of Emma's ex-boyfriend, "It was not like that at all. Emma was not aware that she was making that deal, she believed that Hades was only playing games. I gave her no reason to believe that I am in love with her."
Cora deflated back, "You are in love with Emma Swan? Snow White's daughter?"
"I am aware how unbelievable that is…"
"It's not that, it makes a kind of odd sense, it's only…I have attempted to kill her…" Cora said guiltily.
Regina couldn't help but smile, "Don't worry, mother. I have done the same on a number of occasions. She is rather forgiving."
Cora still ducked her head and Regina was suddenly certain that she had to try and trust this woman.
"In my pocket, there is a necklace," Regina announced and caused Cora to look up, "It has enough magic to remove your cuff."
Cora didn't hesitate to extricate the piece of jewellery and Regina held her breath despite her desire to believe that her mother wouldn't leave her here.
The Queen of Hearts promptly removed her cuff and Regina got her answer.
Cora gripped her upper arm and smoke snaked around to take them away from their prisons.
Her knees buckled under her own weight but Cora caught her before she could drop, she then palmed her cheek and Regina sighed deeply under the healing touch.
The relief that this granted Regina to take in sensations through her other senses, though the smell was the biggest tip off as to her location.
She opened her eyes to find that her mother had indeed taken her to the stables.
Before she could see what a horse from the Underworld looked like, she was distracted by another scuffle and then the dropping of a bucket.
Regina whipped around, disregarding a wave of pain to find out who the interloper was with a fireball ignited above her palm.
The fire ignited the young man's face and Regina gasped, "Daniel?"